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COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



Childhood and Ponyhood 
Blended 



BY 

OSCAR A. WHITE 



I* 



Copyright: 1909 

By IV1. Irwin Dunlap 



1909 

The Republican Press 

Greenfield. Ohio 




T1IK I'KI! I I' I . I MR Y LAND 



5 



CHILDHOOD AND PONYHOOD 



It was a summer morning — a June morning 
with nature at the climax of her busy bounding 
season, when our carriage rolled out into the 
country road, thence up a winding lane to 
beautiful Edgewood, over-looking the city of 
Greenfield, Ohio, and crowning a hill crest in 
the center of the broad and undulating expanse 
of "The Dunlap Pony Farm." where hill and 
vale, woodland and meadow teem with pony life. 
Where pony life wades knee deep in refreshing 
clover, or gathers lazily beneath the dense 
shadow of friendly oaks, or the elms — veritable 
forests on single stems — and whose black shade 
forms a haven of rest for the best friend of the 
American boy and American girl, the playful, 
useful pony, the Shetland pony with his thin, 
strong limb, his neat, shapely form, his shaggy 
mane, his thoughtful, intelligent face, his keen, 
bright eye. and a disposition so affectionate and 
devoted that he fits into the ambitious and recreative child life of the American 
boy ami American girl, as naturally as play itself. 

Our mission to Edgewood was to glean something with which to brighten 
childhood. To tell a story to the American boy and American girl that would 
tit into their realm of mirth, into their years of recreation, into their years of 
keenest growth and development, when occupation means health, means growth 
of mind ami body, means purity of childhood, means the awakening of an 
environment that shall ultimately influence the manhood and womanhood of 
after years. 

It was this that led us to Edgewood, the very center of the pony life of 
America, for nowhere in all of Uncle Sam's domain is the pony, the Shetland 
pony, so completely crowned as king. Nowhere are so many acres devoted to 
Ins growth and culture. Xowhere is so much care and intelligent solicitude 
devoted tn the purity of species and training. Nowhere is the same thoughtful 




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attention given to this prince of childhood pleasure — the Shetland pony. 

When our carriage stopped under the shadow of Edgewood's porte-cochere 
we were greeted by the owner, Mr. M. Irwin Dunlap, and an hour with Mr. 
Dunlap means an hour of refreshing inspiration. Nature never made a man 
with a more thoughtful solicitude for the rollicking, romping boy and girl, and 
therefore admirably fitted for the promotion and care of an industry so unique. 

After years of devotion to the practice of law as a profession — years that 
were crowded with activity, crowded with professional and financial success, Mr. 
Dunlap sought retirement on a suburban farm, in a beautiful home modern in its 
entirety, where he lives among his books and ponies, the books a source of culture, 
the ponies a source of pleasure, yet with time to direct the greatest of all, "The 
Dunlap Pony Farm." 

To the man who thus combines culture and pleasure, and who supplements 
the two with a devotion to an industry the products of which carry sunshine and 
happiness into child life everywhere, we ask the American boy and the American 
girl to reverently doff their hats. 

We sat in his library where he talked ponyhood as deftly as the statesman 
discourses upon economics. The walls and mantels were bedecked and laden 
with the trophies of many a contest for supremacy, among which were two 
beautiful silver loving cups, won in the show ring by proud and stately Cardinal 
Rose, the premier of the Dunlap herd. 



With Mr. Dunlap, ponyhood and childhood blend with amazing grace. His 
logic is that the puny loves the boy and girl, and the boy and girl love the pony. 
The real lovable Shetland pony has no higher ambition than to claim a boy or a 
girl for his friend and associate, that he may bear their burdens, do their bidding, 
and contribute to their pleasure and lessen their sorrow. 

Safe and affectionate, and with a confiding innocence that frightens at 
nothing no matter what its terrors, he becomes a protection, and never a menace, 



never rude or obstinate. Every hour of his pony life the confiding Shetland 
seems to say to the boy or the girl: "Here I am; take me and do as you will: 
abuse me if you must ; but I am your affectionate friend always." 

With Mr. Dunlap and our photographer, we were permitted to drive at will 
to the length and breadth of the Dunlap Pony Farm, taking a scene here and 
another there, with our every wish readily granted that we might tell to the 
American boy and the American girl a Shetland story in prose and picture. 
Boys and uirls if we shall succeed in winning a place in your affections for a 
pony friend: if we shall succeed in blending childhood and ponyhood; then to 
that full extent shall we have succeeded in blessing and exalting the American 
boy and girl, for it is truth undeniable, that there is no cleaner nor more whole- 
some influence upon the formative years of boyhood and girlhood, than the 
ownership and companionship of a safe and affectionate Shetland pony — and 
this because it is a positive diversion from the coarser tendencies that constantly 
entreat. 





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TAKING REFRESHMENTS 




AT WORK IX IAIKY1.AND 



in America, there being less than 5000 registered, which means that only one to 
about twenty thousand population is shown in the books of registration. 

In the matter of intelligence the Shetland pony is very much superior to 
the horse, a fact that can find explanation only in the manner in which the two 
are reared. The Shetland, foaled and reared in the hills and wastes of his native 
islands, without human care or solicitude naturally develops the faculty of self 
preservation, and the intelligence thus evolved is transmitted to generations born 
in domestication. The horse is foaled and reared in domestication, with every 
care and solicitude bestowed upon him, so much so, in fact, that no demands are 
made upon his intelligence, and his faculties are. therefore, undeveloped. 

These same conditions develop a greater degree of hardihood in the pony. 




Unlike the domesticated horse, he is not subject to the category of diseases, but 
on the contrary exhibits an endurance and superiority of constitution that are 
remarkable when contrasted with the strength and hardihood of the common 
horse. 

In the matter of disposition, the Shetland pony again asserts his superiority, 
As lovable as is the well bred domesticated horse, he has not the patience oor 
affection, winch are the crowning characteristics of the Shetland, and his un- 
challenged reputation as the child's pony is justly attributed to the marked 
absence of viciousness, ill temper, and nervousness, and the presence of these 
illnatured tendencies in many ponies called Shetlands, is proof that they lack 
that purity of blood which alone would entitle them to the name. 




TRAVELING WEST TO TAKE II' A HOMESTEAD— A STOP t-'OR DINNER 




!•< INY (',( ISSIP 




\ GALLANT LITTLE FELLOW AND HIS SWEETHEART 



Another distinguishing feature of the Shetland when compared with the 
horse is his docility. He is practically broken when born. He makes compara- 
tively no resistance to harness restraint, even when given his first lesson. His 
greatest fault is awkwardness, and he seems only to want to know the things that 
are required of him, and when he knows these is only too willing to submit, and 
awkwardness gives way to agility with surprising ease and grace. 

The Shetland is likewise a cosmopolitan. He loves companionship and will 
walk straightway into the parlor if he is not guarded. He takes it for granted 
that his amicable disposition and good conduct entitle him to the liberty of the 
home, and he can see no reason why he should not exercise it. In his native 
islands he practically lives in the hut with his owner and this free and easy 
inclination comes to him honestly. His confidence in his owner is such that he 
consents to lie led or driven wherever he wills. Pie will ascend the stairs if 
urged, and the total absence of fear enables him to be driven in the midst of the 
din of machinery, and locomotives and automobiles are -i S the birds of the air to 
the Shetland. 

It is because of this tractability and docility that the Shetland becomes the 
ideal associate, and a never ceasing source of pleasure tor the boy and girl and 
this admirable relationship exerts a leavening influence upon tin 1 impressionable 
childlife. 




N* 




GOING AFTER THE COWS 




CUING OVER TO AUNT MARY'S 



something' that will stand for service without complaint or rebellion, as kind as 
a kitten, and as sedate as a prince. 

But there is another side to the pony not fully appreciated. This is the 
influential side upon the character of the buy or girl, during the formative years 
of their lives. Strong men love a strong horse, and this is because of a 
magnetism, a consciousness of a strong physical presence. If a horse were a 
weak, enervating beast he would lose his place in the affections of men. It is 
the powerful, enduring, magnetic side of the horse that makes him the royal 
friend of man. 

The Shetland pony is to the child what tin- horse is to the adult. There is 
an acknowledgement of strength, and of the magnetism of physical presence. A 




A SHETLAND RACER Willi RASI'US UP 



strong mental appreciation of worth, and this fact exalts the boy and girl. The 
state of mind has much to do with physical development, and nothing so com- 
pletely fills the life of a boy or girl as does the ownership of a Shetland pony. 
Something lie can Feed; something upon which he can bestow his pride; some- 
thing he can ride and drive. To the boy or girl this Shetland pony is more than 
a gigantic business venture to the man or woman. 

The boy and girl are nothing more than the human flowers out of which 
must develop the sturdy plants of manhood and womanhood. The home is the 
nursery for their early care, but there comes a transplanting in the open, where 
sunshine and wholesome atmosphere can exert its influence for strength and 




JUST RETURNED 1 ROM A ROMP 




THK DOCTOR IS UAU.l'D 




ALWAYS kiuiM I (IK (INK MORE 



physical st liveliness. It is the pony that comes to carry him into the realm of 
outdoor life. To give activity and healthful exercise. To give vivaciousness 
and contentment of mind. To give exaltation and invigorating pride. It takes 
all these to make the perfect, rollicking, romping boy and girl, and they will 
never live long enough to forget the time when childhood and ponyhood blended 
for ,-i greater health, a greater growth and a greater purity. 




XO RACK SUICIDE IX 1'oXVI.AXH 



Tic chivalry of man, of heroic deeds, are associated with the horse. 
Sheridan's ride to Winchester would have lost its romance and interest if it had 
been made in a Pullman. Putman's dash down the steep declivity would pale 
into insignificance if it had been made afoot. Paul Revere would have been 
iiiisinm if th ' imble steed had been a lifeless inanimate bicycle. So it is with 
the boy. the girl. The bicycle and the Irish Mail are dull and unattractive 
when compared with the ownership of a real live pony. It is the pony that 
exalts; it is the pony that tills the life of the boy and girl brimful of unalloyed 
pleasure and exercise. He leads them out into the open and is something to 
love, something to care for. something to use, something to exalt, something to 
pride. 

There may have been a time when the boy and girl were permitted to grow 
as the weeds of the wayside, and in defense of this inclination it might be said 




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AT THE END OF THE RACK 




GETTING RKAHY 1-nR A I'K'NIC 



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SELLING A FAVORITE AT AUCTION 



that in those days fewer evils beset the pathway of the young, and less anxiety 
was occasioned. But in our modern day parents give greater care and solicitude 
to the moral environment in which their boys and girls are reared. They avoid 
viciousness; they avoid unwholesome companionship. And since they crave 
recreation— demand it, in fact — it is a commendable sentiment that guides child- 
hood into an atmosphere of clean associations, and in no way is this so admirably 
accomplished as by that complete gratification and exaltation growing out of the 
pony and his vehicle and saddle. 

Added to this is the early knowledge and training which must necessarily 
grow out of the care and ownership of a Shetland, a knowledge and training that 
will have a useful part in after life. 




COULD A CHILD HEART HOLD MORE ENJOYMENT THAN IS EVIDENCED HERE' 



Many would ride but they adopt the pleasure too late in life. To ride well 
it should be a habit in early life, and no period compares with that of childhood, 
for the child at live years and upward becomes accustomed to this invigorating 
sport almost as readily as it takes to play. 

It is the age also when a natural affection is developed, and this is a fine 
sentiment to encourage in the growing child. It will manifest itself in later 
years, not alone toward the horse, but it will be a potent restriction toward all 

creatures. 

It is this high regard and affection that mark the radical distinction be- 




I Wl I C1.US1' I K IEN MS 



tween the man and woman of coarser and indifferent tendencies and the man 
and woman with a thoughtful and appreciative demeanor toward dumb 
animals. 

Give a boy or girl a pony in their childhood years that they may learn to 
love and appreciate by actual association and service, and they will most surely 
look with horror and emphatic disapproval in mature years upon a rude and 
vicious disposition that would beat, abuse, or neglect the horse or other creatures 
of dependence. 

That these and other influences are exercising themselves upon parents with 
a growing intensity is determined by the constantly increasing demands for the 
Shetland pony. Every year marks a greater activity in this industry, and the 
supply cannot be kept equal to the demand. The automobile may till the man or 
woman with delight, but it does not engage the boy and girl with the same interest 
that docs the pony. The Shetland is the standard of childhood aristocracy, and 
it just as completely satisfies, as does the automobile or coach and livery satisfy 
the heads of the household. 

Who would then deny ? Who would withhold, not only a pleasure so keen, 
but an environment that so completely fills the early life with a developing 
influence that will exert itself in mature years? 





NYMPHS IN FAIRYLAND 




DOING POLICE DUTY 



BEECHER TELLS HIS LIFE STORY 

Roger and Virginia had turned Beecher, their faithful pony into the friendly 
shade of a maple by the roadside, and leaping from the pony phaeton, were 
reclining a moment later against the tree's trunk under his very nose. 

"Tell us the story of your life." jokingly asked Roger, little dreaming of 
Beecher 's willingness or ability to talk. • 

"Why do yim ask .'" replied Beecher, reaching his nose to the ground for 
a nip of grass, while Virginia gave a shriek of fright at the pony voice. 

"Because you have been our playmate for a year." said Roger, "and we 
would be so interested in knowing whether you have been kindly treated and 
whether you know other little boys and girls." 

"Listen." said Beecher, and he stamped his little foot as if he were rapping 
for silence. 




HAVING A GOOD TIME IN PONY FAIRYLAND 



"I opened my eyes on a bleak scathold in Shetland six years ago; the world 
was very strange to me and I thought I would freeze to death. My mamma 
coaxed me into a protecting heather, where the cold was less severe." 

"Pretty stum a big man wearing wooden shoes and great baggy trousers 
came out and patted me on the back and rubbed my tender little nose. Then lie 
went up to my mamma and talked a queer language to her then led her to a 
stone house, and 1 trudged along behind because my mamma told me to." 

"I lived in and about this man's house for two years, when one day a kindly 
faced man came to my home and talked such funny talk. I couldn't understand 
but I knew H was about me, for the man walked around me and patted me 
kindly." 

"The next day. in company with a hundred of my pony playmates, I was 




I. EST OF FR1KNDS MUST PART 




1'ARKWKI.I, 



RONALD'S VICTORY 



Ronald Drake was one of these busy, ambitious boys of seven years, who 
crowded an air castle into every hour of his play day. There was none of the 
rude in Ronald. On the contrary his obedience and industry excited the ad- 
miration of his friends and were an ever source of pride for Ins father and 
mother. 

Fortunately I'm- Ronald, his parents were indulgent. Toy trains, supple- 
jacks ami drums had losl their line, and as he stood upon the threshold of a new 
boy era. his father and mother encouraged by granting his new ambitions, 
rather than retard by denial. If he wished t" accompany his father to the 
city the wish was granted and Ronald returned a bigger and wiser boy, and his 
little mind fairly tumbled over itself in its effort to ted of the strange things 
lie had seen. 




If lie wished In spend a week in the country with his grandfather mi the 
farm he was permitted to go, and he came home at the end of a week's romp 
reddened by the leap nf enriched blood and browned by the exposure in which 
a warm sun kissed him at every jump. 

Seven yens is the age of artful tease in the ambitious boy, and Ronald's 
desires were so many and lofty thai his father and mother were often kept 
guessing between denial and gratification. They knew enough nf child life to 



conclude that real boy development lies in discreet gratification of childish 
desire, and that persisted denial was the same as denying drink and sun-light 
to a nursery flower. 

Tin's rapid fire disposition to want things had reached the stage where 
Ronald clamored for the use and ownership of a Shetland pony, with real 
harness, and a real foiir-wheeled runabout. lie wanted to do as men do, and 
tin's is an admirable path for a buy to trod, for how else will he ever grow to be 
a man. ambitious for achievement, except that his young life takes the trend 
thai leads to such a goal. 




"$»* 



With his Shetland | y and rig he could see many hours and days of 

prime enjoyment. It would be a long stride toward doing as men do, and his 
little life reached out tor this ownership with the same eagerness that the 
vigorous plant loans toward tin- warmth and lighl 

It is not saying a now thing when wo record thai a boy's best friend is his 
mother, and when Ronald told the story of his ambition into mother ears, he 
was lad playing the game as men play it when they take the burden of life's 
desire and lav it at the eourl of suresl gratification. 



Ronald qo1 only told the stor\ of his hope and desire many a time and oft, 
but he even proposed 1" take a good share of the kitchen work upon Ins own 
little hands if the reward of such a sacrifice should be the ownership of pony, 
harness and runabout. Days lengthened into weeks, and weeks into months, 
and Ronald was still pleading artfully a1 the couii of hist resort. He was even 




hi'i oming a better and a brighter boy. For he artfully did nothing that would 

,!.r. ;iiid did " :l main tilings in the line of duty withoul being told to do 

M i. that In' became the subject of animated parental discussion when little 

['onald's ears were deadened l>\ that sleep whkli only a tiled and ambitious 

bo\ -I'll know. 



When all else had failed Ronald tried a little game of sympathy. A father 
may listen to logic, but human nature too often compels him to resist it by 
argument, in which evenl the victory belongs to the stronger. Bu1 sympathy 
is a game the weak can play, so Ronald found himself telling his father how 
often he could lake Jimmie Kent, the crippled neighbor hoy. into the country 
where the air. and birds, and (lowers could strengthen the frail body that knew 
no exercise, and brighten the mind that mirrored only the monotony enclosed 
by the picket fence thai surrounded Jimmie's home. 

This was in ii a trap purposely vet. for Ronald's mind was loo young to set 
trails for strong men. It was a trap, nevertheless, and it was set with such 
childish simplicity, and sprung with such childish innocence thai .Mr. Drake, the 
father, was caught; 1 >i it the pride that springs from strength refused to admit 
it at once, and Ronald went to his Little bed and drifted into the clutch of the 
sand man without a knowledge of the victory lie had won. 

The next morning as .Mr. Drake went to his store, the sight of Jimmie Kent 
opened the whole story of the evening before, and it rapped hard at the heart of 
Mr. Drake until the door was finally opened ami all the other little pleas of 

Ronald tumbled in after it until there was no l m for business. The boy that 

wanted to be like men. who craved the pleasure thai ownership inspires — yet 
who was charitable enough to open his little heart and share the wealth of its 
pleasure with the unfortunate— such a boy deserved the gratification of his 
desire, and Mr. Drake, in the charity of his soul and the wisdom of his heart, 
helped an ambitious boy over one of the rough places of child life, and by so 
doing strengthened a thread of sympathy that will crow stronger as the years 
carry Ronald to maturity. 

These pages cannot tell the pleasure that Ronald found in harnessing and 
driving his pet Shetland in town ami country, nor can they tell of the pleasure 

that was poured into the heart of | r Jimmie Kent, but they may suggest to 

the parent wh.. reads that the indulgence of a childish desire that points to the 
fuller development of the traits that ennoble manhood is only another way of 
nurturing the acorn of youth into the sturdy oak of the forest of men. 




































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THE SHETLAND ISLANDS 

Od looking at the map, comparing < rreal Britain to the United States, one is 
apt to think the Shetland Islands ran be quickly and easily reached, once the 
ocean is crossed, 1ml il is nearly a day's journey from London to Aberdeen, the 
point al which to embark for the Islands : and as boats only leave on certain days 
of the week there may be some delay on this score, particularly in rough weather. 
From Aberdeen to Lerwick, the capital of Shetland. i1 is 185 nautical miles, but 
the sea is so rough on account of the currents, being generally considered the 
roughesl sea in the world, that it often takes much longer than the schedule time, 
which is about a day and a half going by way of Kirkwall. 




IN READINESS Mil; AN AFTERNOON S] IX 



Arriving in the harbor of Lerwick one is impressed with the large amount 
of shipping, principally of a M s-; 1 1 i 1 1 <_;■ nature in Ibis line water-way, for this harbor 
is one of I he best iii Northern Britain. Pishing smacks come from almost every 
part of Europe Tor herring fishing, upon which there is no restriction, as the 
Islands being pari of Great Britain, are under free trade. 

The town of Lerwick is not very beautiful, but it has some rather striking 
features The buildings, of course, are of stone with slate root's, and as there 



are no trees, vines or shrubs anywhere on the Islands, the place has a very bare, 
in fact, rather bleak appearance. On account of the lark of trees there are 
practically no birds in Shetland, except sea-gulls and other water fowl. The 
gulls are the sparrows of the Islands. You find them sitting on the chimneys 
of the houses and on the lawns and fences. They hover over every house that is 




A DAY IN TIIK WOODLAND 



to be seen. The air is full of their strange, plaintive cries. Many of the 
people make pets of the gulls and feed them, and strange to say. the gulls that 
are accustomed to perch about one house do not mix with those frequenting 
another. 

The streets in the olden part of Lerwick are very narrow, and often increas- 
ingly so. At the end of some of the streets which may have started with a fair 
width, there would be hardly room for two or three people to pass. 

Lerwick lias a permanent population of about 6,000. In summer this is 
greatly increased, to some extent by tourists, but chiefly on account of the influx 
of fishermen. It is an interesting sight to see these fishermen parading the 
streets on a Saturday night, many of them being Dutch, with peculiar wooden 
shoes, and wide, baggy knickerbockers which are so baggy in fact as to resemble 
skirts. They have peculiar little round caps and wear ear-rings. Fishermen 
from almost every other part of Europe are there, and the mixture of the many 
dialects is very odd and confusing. 

The herring industry is one of the largest, if not the largest, in the world, 
amounting to about $12,000,000 a year. The smallest port has its great piles of 
herring barrels and fishing boats, with women cleaning the herring, which they 



do with lightning rapidity, at the rate of one a second. The herring arc packed 
in salt in barrels and shipped all over the world. 

The population of the Shetland Islands, according to the census of 1891, was 
but 2S.711, which accounts largely for trains, street cars, and all other means of 
conveyance on land, being unknown. Aside from the use of horses, the only 
other means of travel is by boat, either by the small steamers which ply between 
the different ports and islands, or sail or row boats. The traveler experiences 
much difficulty in getting about the islands because of this lack of means of 
conveyance. In driving one often has to walk up the hills because they are too 
steep for the horse to pull much weight, and as they are very frequent, ami often 
lone and steep, traveling is done under difficulty. 




The uniform hospitality of the native Shetlanders is worthy of comment. 
They can not do enough to show their kindness, and it is difficult to gel them to 
take anything for any service performed, a marked contrast to the same class of 
people in other parts of Europe, where tipping is so much in evidence. 

The women on the Shetland Islands are remarkable for their industry. The 
men do the fishing, but the women clean the fish and. in addition, carry the peat 
ami i.lo the gardening. Wherever you meet them, even walking on the streets 

or on tin 1 1 ? 1 1 i -> roads, they are knitting, and will not stop even when they have 

to rest with their loads against a stone or side of a hill. Their hand work. 
Shetland shawls, hosiery, and knitted goods of all kinds, form one of the chief 
industries of the Islands, and are famous in many parts of the civilized world. 



The wool is obtained from the native Shetland sheep, and is peculiarly soft and 
fine. It is plucked by hand, much as we would pluck feathers. It is also 
carded and spun by hand, and it is remarkable how adept these Shetland women 
are at using it and making up articles of wear. Many of the shawls and other 
fabrics are so fine as to resemble more than anything a spider's web, and some of 
them, a yard or more square, would, when rolled up, go through a finger ring. 




The surface of the country is rocky and rough and very hilly, many of the 
hills rising to a height of several hundred feet above sea level, the highest being 
Roeness Hill. 1,486 feet. The sides of the hills are covered with thin soil on 
which grow stunted heather and coarse grass, while the valleys between are 
covered with peat, sometimes to considerable depth. Often the peat extends well 
up on the hill. With the exception of a few fertile dales, it is along the margins 
of the voes and creeks and the low-lying land adjoining the sea shore that soil 
suitable for cultivation is generally found. The soil, however, is poor, and as 
the season is short and cold, vegetation is scant. Oats and hay are raised to 
some extent and some vegetables. Ploughs and machinery arc used on the larger 
farms, but much of the farming is done with spade and hoe. often by the women. 

The tides in the narrow sounds dividing the islands are often very rapid, 
rushing in between the islands and forming whirlpools, called roosts, which are 
sometimes dangerous to small boats. The sea in fact all round the Islands is 
rou^h. Lone- arms of the sea called voes, project far into the land, and in 





****** 



GIVING THE SHETLAND HIS FIRST WESSON IN HARNESS 



addition there are countless tarns and loehs which stud the landscape. The voes 
and lochs are so numerous and so extensive that the sea is nowhere more than 
three or four miles away. In consequence of all this salt water tempered by the 
Gulf Stream in a northern latitude, there is a great deal of mist and dampness. 

It is difficult for one accustomed only to landscape with trees to realize that 
a land view can he beautiful without them, but the scenery in the Shetland 
Islands has a distinct pieturesqueness of its own. The succession of hills and 
valle.ys. with the long voes and landlocked bays in between, glimmering in the 
sunlight of a long summer day, form a magnificent view, extending for miles 
around. The lack of trees and the somber tints of the rocks and hills are quite 
forgotten. The most impressive feature of the island scenery is, however that 
of the coast. In many places the shore is of rock one to three hundred feet high, 
and almost perpendicular, the loftiest cliff being Kame of Poula, 1,220 feet high. 
The dashing of the sea against these rocks has worn them into crags and crevices, 
and here where it is impossible for any human being to climb, and high above the 
boisterous rush and roar of the seething ocean, myriads of sea birds build their 
nests and rear their young. 

The land, with the exception of a number of sheep farms, is mostly occupied 
by crofters. The crofts, as already said, are generally situated in the fertile 
spots by the seashore, and are small, averaging about four acres of arable land 
with ten acres of outland. On these the crofters live in rough stone houses, 
often thatched with hay or straw. If the land available for cultivation is of 
some extent, a number of these crofts are clustered together. The tillable land 
with a portion of pasture is often enclosed by a stone or turf fence called the 
hilldyke. Fences, however, are comparatively rare, and outside the hilldyke is 



the scathold or common pasture of the township, and on this the crofters have 
unlimited right to graze what live stock they possess and where they procure 
their fuel supply. 

The Gulf Stream has a strong mollifying effect upon the climate of the 
Shetland Islands. There is not nmi li snow in winter and it dues no1 lie mi the 




THE MOTHER AND THE BABY 

ground fur any length of time. Notwithstanding the frequent occurrence 
of rains, the bracing and exhilarating nature of the summer and the mild 
temperature of the winters make Shetland one of the most healthful districts 
of Scotland. 

The length of the days varies much more than the temperature. In summer 
it is never really dark. In winter it is not light until nine in the morning, and 
gets dark about three in the afternoon. 

The people of the Shetland Islands are mostly of Scandinavian descent, as 
is shown by the ending of the names, Anderson, Manson, Robertson. Peterson. 
In accent, religion, and in many of their customs, however, they are very similar 
to the Scotch, then' near neighbors. They are a simple, honest, hardy people, 
mostly of sandy complexion, and. contrary to the diminutive stature oi the 
animals of the Shetland Islands, they are of good height. 




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HEALTH, PLEASURE AND RECREATION 

If you had a million dollars to spend for the health and happiness of your 
boy or girl you could not get more for such an expenditure than would accrue 
from the purchase of a Shetland pony. The force of this conclusion was fully 
demonstrated by the remark of a wealthy manufacturer who had millions to 
spend if he desired, but who declared that au investment of $150 in a Shetland 
pony had given his child more real pleasure and happiness, combined with 
perfect health than he could have purchased with a thousand times the investment 
in other channels. Health, pleasure, and happiness were not only vouchsafed, 
but he declared that the sturdy health had supplanted a delicate constitution, 
a change which he directly attributed to the out-door exercise which the pony and 
vehicle invited and exacted. 

Neither are bodily health and strength the only advantages accruing. There 
is that greater advantage — the mind growth and development, invited and 
invigorated by occupation, by outdoor life, by gratification and contentment. 
Building of body and mind under such conditions is likewise building character, 
and character building is building for eternity. 




UTILITY OF THE NATIVE SHETLAND 

The pouies are not an agricultural but a domestic necessity. In Shetland, 
as in parts of Ireland, every family depends for its supply of fuel upon peat, 
and as peat is seldom found near the houses, but on the hill behind them— there 
is always a hill in the rear in Shetland, every island consisting mainly of ;i patch 
or two of smooth land in a few snug nooks by the shore and as it is often a dis- 




MII,KING TIME, IiRINGINC. HOME THE COWS 



tance of several steep and stony miles, each house requires several ponies, the 
number depending upon the distance and character of the road. A family living 
convenient to the peat may require only two peat carriers and another may re- 
quire half a dozen. The material, after it has been dug and dried in the usual 
manner, is carried home on the backs of the ponies in blankets called ••cassies." 
It is obvious that the back that performs this kind of service must be broad and 
strong. The Slid land pony is a striking example of development ; tor genera- 
tions past he has been bred, reared, and trained with uniformity which could not 
have been secured in any other part of the United Kingdom. Hence his physique 
and general character, his hereditary instinct and intelligence, his small size, and 
his purity and fixity of type. A pony belonging to a breed which has to pick its 
zigzag path down a steep declivity during many generations must be sure footed. 
By the same rule a pony whose grooms and playmates include a dozen juveniles — 
the children of the neighborhood who roll underneath him or upon his back — ■ 



must be gentle; and the pony living on scathold or air, sometimes, rather than 
herbage, must be hardy. The pony of the Shetland Isles is. in fact, the offspring 
of circumstances. He is the pet of the family, gentle as the Arab's steed under 
similar training. He will follow his friends indoors like a dog, and lick the 
platter or the children's faces. He has no more kick in him than a cat and no 
more bite than a puppy. He is a noble example of a complete suppression of 
those vicious propensities which some of his kind exhibit when they are ill treated, 
and of the intelligence ami good temper that may be developed in horses by kind- 
ness. There is no precedent for his running away, nor for his becoming tired 
or frightened, even when he has carried some laird from Lerwick to his home, 
many Scotch miles across the hills. He moves down the rugged hillside with 
remarkable circumspection, loaded pannier fashion with two heavy cassies of 
peat, picking his way step by step, sometimes sideways. In crossing boggy spots, 
where the water is retained, and a green carpet of aquatic grass that might de- 




HUNTING FOR A PLACE TO PICNIC 



ceive siime steeds and bring them headlong to grief in the spongy trap, he 
carefully smells the surface and is thus able to circumvent the danger. In the 
uinter the Shetland pony wears a coat made of felted hair and especially suited 
to the season. His thick winter garmenl is well adapted for protecting him 
from the fogs and damps of the climate. It is exceedingly warm and comfort- 
able, tits close to the wearer's dapper form and is not bad looking when new. 
No horse looks his best when he is losing his coat, and so it is with the 
Shetland. But when he is completely shed in the spring, and there appears his 
■clean, sleek summer coat, his neat round body shows to a striking advantage 



and fully compensates for the uncouth appearance during the rigors of winter. 
Besides it is the amplitude and abundance of the shaggy coat that make him 
hardy and enduring. Nature seems to have anticipated neglect, and ou1 of her 
kindness supplied the little fellow with shelter of its own making, and in doing 
so insured a sturdy health not common in the domesticated horse. 

From the drudgery of Hie peal carrying service in the native Shetlancls to 
the refined and recreative service in America is a long stride. Prom a good 
natured indifference id' the Shetlander to the proud appreciation id' the typical 




A MORNING SCOUT THROUGH THE ttiMUU.ANIl 



American is likewise an evolution in pony life, but both of these transitions 
are apparent ; and in each the pony lias been advanced many points in the matter 
of dignity. Be it said however to Ins eredit. thai the pony has lust none of his 
sturdiness in tins change of scone and servii e. 

With the American boj or girl as bis rider, and in many instances the beads 
ol' families become the mounts, be delights in a run through field and wood- 
land and is a willing and appreciative participant in an early morning scout. 
If dismounting is occasioned, be follows as dutifully as tbe favorite dog, or 
brouses leisurely while tbe pleasure seeker strolls to points of interest thai are 
inaccessible to tbe pony. It is this confiding nature thai scores the pony s.i in- 
comparably above tbe horse. lie requries no thought. lie does nut seek" to 
str.i\ or escape. lie sees nothing to occasion fright, and to be able to dismount 
in the open, throwing the reins carelessly over the saddle's born and leave the 
Shetland to bis freedom with tbe assurance thai be is yours at the beck or call, 
is a virtue much to be a Imired and appreciated and in no domesticated horse can 



you find such loyalty and devotion. It is this adaptability of the pony to our 
environments that makes him so efficient and popular, and inspires such a sense 
of safety and security when he forms a part of an outing with boys and girls. 
There is no more occasion for anxiety than if the children were tented upon the 
lawn. 

It is this fact that makes the Shetland pony universally admired, by both 
parents and children, and the friend or parent who wishes to fill the life of a boy 
or girl witli pony pride and pony ownership can do so without fear of regret. 




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